"Daddy!"
I looked up from my dinner.
A little girl stood in the doorway, clutching a stuffed rabbit almost as large as her head.
She had dark hair, bright crimson eyes, and the sort of smile that suggested she had never once considered the possibility of being unwelcome.
I stared at her.
She stared back.
Then she ran toward me.
"Daddy!"
"Whoa—!"
I barely managed to catch her before she collided with my stomach.
Her little arms wrapped around my waist.
"I found you!"
"...Congratulations?"
She giggled.
I looked toward the empty corridor.
Then back at the child.
"Little miss, I think you've mistaken me for someone else."
"Nope!"
"I'm fairly certain I would remember having a daughter."
"That's because you haven't had me yet!"
I blinked.
"...What?"
She looked at me as though I were the one being unreasonable.
"I'm from the future, Daddy!"
ㅤ
There are certain situations that no amount of magical education can prepare a person for.
A dragon appearing above the academy?
Terrifying, certainly, but at least there were textbooks about dragons.
A demon crawling out of a forbidden summoning circle?
Unfortunate, but theoretically manageable.
A six-year-old girl appearing at your dormitory and claiming to be your daughter from the future?
I was fairly certain the academy didn't offer a course for that.
ㅤ
"All right," I said after a long silence. "Let's assume you're telling the truth."
"Okay!"
"And you're my daughter."
"Mhm!"
"From the future."
"Yes!"
"Then where's your mother?"
Her eyes brightened.
"Oh! Mommy's here too!"
I felt a small measure of relief.
Good.
A responsible adult.
Someone who could explain why a child had appeared in my room and started making extraordinary claims about my nonexistent love life.
"Wonderful. Where is she?"
The girl hurried toward the window.
"Over there!"
I followed her finger.
Several students were walking across the academy courtyard.
Among them was a young woman with long silver hair.
Her elegant uniform bore the insignia of one of the empire's most powerful noble families.
Even from this distance, I recognized her.
Of course I did.
Anyone who had read the original novel would have recognized her.
The future villainess.
The woman whose name would eventually become synonymous with calamity.
I slowly turned toward the little girl.
"...Her?"
She nodded enthusiastically.
"Mommy!"
I looked back through the window.
Then at the child.
Then at the window again.
I had never spoken to that woman.
Not once.
Not even by accident.
And according to the original story, getting involved with her was an excellent way to die.
ㅤ
"Sweetheart."
"Yes, Daddy?"
"Are you absolutely certain?"
She puffed out her cheeks.
"Of course! You married her!"
...
I see.
Wonderful.
My peaceful life had apparently filed for divorce without informing me.
ㅤ
I sat down.
The girl climbed onto my lap as though she'd done it a thousand times before.
Perhaps, from her perspective, she had.
That thought was considerably less amusing.
I looked at her small hands clutching the stuffed rabbit.
At her dark hair.
At those unmistakable crimson eyes.
For the first time since opening the door, I considered the possibility that she wasn't lying.
And if she wasn't...
"Can I ask you something?"
She nodded.
"Anything!"
"Was I happy?"
The question surprised even me.
I had intended to ask about the future.
About the war.
About the villainess.
Instead, I wanted to know whether the life I'd been trying so desperately to protect had amounted to something worthwhile.
The girl smiled.
"You were the happiest daddy in the whole world!"
I couldn't help smiling back.
"Really?"
"Mhm! Mommy was happy too!"
"That's... good."
For a brief moment, the situation didn't seem quite so terrible.
Perhaps the future wasn't as hopeless as I remembered.
Perhaps I really had managed to build a peaceful life.
Perhaps—
"Then why did you come looking for me?"
Her smile disappeared.
The change was so sudden that I immediately regretted asking.
She lowered her gaze to the rabbit in her arms.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then her little fingers tightened around the worn fabric.
"Because you died, Daddy."
My breath caught.
She looked up at me.
Those crimson eyes were filling with tears.
"And Mommy said this was our last chance to save you."
ㅤ
***
ㅤ
Several months later.
ㅤ
"Adrian."
I looked up from the documents scattered across my desk.
A silver-haired young woman stood in the doorway.
Her expression was perfectly composed.
Which, after everything I'd learned about her, was usually a terrible sign.
"Yes?"
"Why is the imperial princess waiting outside your room?"
I blinked.
"...The what?"
"The imperial princess."
"Right. I heard that part."
"Then answer the question."
I glanced toward the corridor.
A young woman with golden hair was standing beside two royal guards.
She noticed me looking.
And smiled.
I immediately looked away.
Oh, no.
Absolutely not.
I knew that smile.
I'd read an entire volume about that smile.
That was the smile the princess wore shortly before dragging the original protagonist into one of the most disastrous political incidents in the novel.
ㅤ
"Adrian."
I turned back.
The silver-haired woman was still staring at me.
"Yes?"
"Why does she have a letter addressed to you?"
"...I don't know."
"Why is it sealed with the imperial crest?"
"I don't know."
"Why did she tell the guards that she came to discuss your marriage?"
I slowly closed my eyes.
There it was.
The sound of my peaceful life being buried.
Again.
ㅤ
"Before you say anything," I began, "I can explain."
"Wonderful."
She crossed her arms.
"I'm listening."
"...Actually, I can't explain."
Her expression didn't change.
Somehow, that made it worse.
ㅤ
A small voice interrupted us.
"Mommy?"
We both looked down.
My daughter stood between us, holding her stuffed rabbit.
She glanced at the silver-haired woman.
Then toward the princess.
Then back at me.
Her little face became unusually serious.
"Daddy."
"...Yes, sweetheart?"
"You're doing it again."
I froze.
"Doing what?"
She pointed toward the corridor.
"Making Mommy jealous!"
ㅤ
Silence.
Absolute silence.
I looked at the silver-haired woman.
She looked at me.
Then, very slowly, she looked down at the child.
"...Mommy?"
My daughter blinked.
I stopped breathing.
The princess was still waiting outside.
The royal guards were beginning to look uncomfortable.
And somewhere in the distance, the academy bell announced the beginning of another perfectly ordinary afternoon.
ㅤ
The little girl tilted her head.
Then she smiled.
"Oops."
ㅤ
***
ㅤ
If someone had told me two years earlier that I would transmigrate into a fantasy novel, I would have been excited.
If they'd told me I would become an insignificant background character, I would have been disappointed.
And if they'd told me that a little girl from the future would arrive at my door, announce that I'd married the novel's future villainess, and then casually reveal that I was destined to die...
Well.
I probably would have asked for a different novel.
ㅤ
Unfortunately, nobody had asked for my opinion.
And this story began long before I knew that my future daughter existed.
Back when I still believed that staying away from the main characters would be enough to keep me alive.
Back when the future villainess was nothing more than a name I remembered from a book.
And back when my greatest concern was passing the academy's practical magic examination.
ㅤ
Those were simpler times.
I miss them already.